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Wednesday, August 20, 2014

And even more doctors

Over her lifetime Phi has seen about 10 different doctors thanks to her eczema. Yesterday we added a new pediatric dermatologist to the mix. She came highly recommended by Phi's immunologist. (Phi also has a allergist, opthamologist, regualr dermatologist, and a pediatrician) So we had to jump through some hoops and wait over 3 months to finally see this doctor. Yesterday was the big day.

Of course because we frequent doctor offices the girls know that to come prepared with entertainment.

And even after the waiting room there is always more waiting in the exam room.

As Louie and I entertain ourselves with selfies, poor Phi has to deal with going through the same exam routine over and over again. All the different doctors we have seen over the years always tell us the same things. We have tried it all and it has never worked very well.

Louie is very much like her father, when things get too serious she busts out with the comedy. This time she tried to ease the tension by taking "Uncle Rico" like selfies.

"Make your hand into a fist and slowly bring it up under your chin".

And then being the little evil genius that she is, she figured out how to make it her profile picture on her tablet.

Despite Louie and her antics, the doctors visit was a lot of information thrown at me. The doctor took one look at Phi and stated "This is bad" which was a relief to hear. No other doctor has said that to us before. Other doctors always downplayed her skin issues. This doctor listened to our history, listened to the things we have tried and immediately jumped in with a new approach.

When we first started dealing with all this we were told that immunosuppressive therapy is the most extreme and last resort. This new doctor told us that we were there. She understood what eczema does to our household. She understood what Phi is going through and she wants to do what she can to make it go away. She believes that this therapy could do just that. This is a tough decision Joey and I have. It is over a year time commitment and we and Phi would have to be up for the medication, light therapy treatments and monthly blood work. It all sounds scary but this doctor has other patients in Phi's age range that have had success with it. She talked about a 12 year old girl who went through the treatments and has perfect skin now.

For the next 2 weeks Phi is on another round of prednisone. This time it will be for 15 days instead of the 3 days she did last time. She is also on a stronger steroid ointment. twice a day. The hope that this will clear up her skin. We see the doctor again in 2 weeks and that's when we will make the decision about the immunosuppressive therapy. In the meantime we are trying to get as much information as we can.

Yes, but not to this extent. His came as a result of a milk intolerance. He sees drs for complications due to a bacterial infection he contracted at birth, and I just totally feel your pain of kids and drs. :(